Which 11 feats would you pick for a 1st level character if ... ?

[Edena_of_Neith]

Feel free to use the 40 point buy, or roll 5d6 per stat and drop the lowest 2 dice and arrange to suit.
Start with quadruple the normal number of skil points (a fighter would begin with 8 (x Int) + 8 per level, a rogue would begin with 32 (x Int) + 32 per level.)

Start with 11 feats. If your character is non-human, start with only 8 feats (humans gain 3 free feats.)
If you take drawbacks from Unearthed Arcana, give yourself 3 extra feats per drawback. As per UA, you can take only a maximum of 2 drawbacks.
You gain 3 feats per level, after 1st level. (But no additional feats ... no Fighter Feats for fighters, no Metamagic Feats for wizards, just 3 feats per level of any type you want to take.)

 

[Jack Simth]

...

I think, for level 1, I'd be VERY sorely tempted to take Toughness 11 times (or maybe Toughness 9 times, plus Precocious Apprentice and Fiery Burst).

Seriously, the DM is setting you up for a VERY high-powered campaign, and that means your opponents will be pretty buffed as well. An extra 27-33 hit points at level 1, and an extra 6-9 per level, are likely a good idea.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think, for level 1, I'd be VERY sorely tempted to take Toughness 11 times (or maybe Toughness 9 times, plus Precocious Apprentice and Fiery Burst).

Seriously, the DM is setting you up for a VERY high-powered campaign, and that means your opponents will be pretty buffed as well. An extra 27-33 hit points at level 1, and an extra 6-9 per level, are likely a good idea.

You're not the first to think along those lines- take a look at Nonlethal Force's psionic PC posted upthread:

<edit>

1: Psionic Body
2: Psionic Talent (2)
3: Psionic Talent (3)
4: Psionic Talent (4)
5: Psionic Talent (5)
6: Psionic Talent (6)
7: Psionic Talent (7)
8: Psionic Talent (8)
9: Psionic Talent (9)
10: Psionic Talent (10)
11: Psionic Talent (11)

Essentially, this level 1 manifester starts with 65 PP (plus racial bonus and bonus for manifesting stat). There is no worry about this character ever needing to rest before the rest of the party is ready to rest.

Oh, and they also start with a bonus 22 HP due to Psionic Body. That doesn't count the d4+CON. Not bad for a first level manifester.
<edit>

It makes a lot of sense, IMHO.

Though I'd be a bit more tempted to do it with a Sorcerer, possibly one with Invisible Dagger instead- gotta love those Force effects!

 

[Aus_Snow]

You gain 3 feats per level, after 1st level. (But no additional feats ... no Fighter Feats for fighters, no Metamagic Feats for wizards, just 3 feats per level of any type you want to take.)

Wow, and some folks reckon the Fighter is screwed when standard 3e rules are used. Bonus feats every two levels is, more than anything else, what separates Fighters from members of the NPC Warrior class.

But OK, I'll redo that knight using your expanded guidelines (and yeah, I know I could just make him a Paladin, but that's not what I was aiming for; no magic or any of that stuff for this guy, thanks).

 

[Buttercup]

Edena, you really like overpowered games, don't you?

With these rules, I can't imagine any character starting play without:
Improved Initiative
Iron Will
Lightning Reflexes
Great Fortitude
Alertness

And I can't imagine any character of mine starting play without also taking Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot.

This suggests to me that either these feats are overpowered, or all the other ones are underpowered.

 

[Jack Simth]

You're not the first to think along those lines- take a look at Nonlethal Force's psionic PC posted upthread:

Yeah, but Psionic classes weren't on the OP's list of choices.

Still, though, that Psionic character would be a very good choice long-term; take Psionic feats for all your feats and you've got an extra 6 hp/level after first (and you'd fairly quickly run out of useful Psionic feats besides Psionic Talent...) ... although even with that, I'd still be pretty tempted to play a nonhuman with a two flaws. Elan, specifically, taking, oh, Noncombatant and Shaky (-2 to Melee/Ranged attack rolls) picking up those racial feats for the Elan from Complete Psionic to improve the racial abilities ("Elan Resilience, Enhanced" and "Elan Resistance, Enhanced" - no need for "Elan Repletion, Enhanced" unless you expect to run across a lot of Antipsionic fields). Further, they're still Psionic feats, so they grant the +2 HP ... and let the character say "no damage" every single time he gets hit for a very long time. That'd be something like...

Elan:
Flaw: Noncombatant
Flaw: Shaky
Feats (14):
1: Psionic Body
2: Elan Resilience, Enhanced
3: Elan Resistance, Enhanced
4: Psionic Talent (2 pp)
5: Psionic Talent (3 pp)
6: Psionic Talent (4 pp)
7: Psionic Talent (5 pp)
8: Psionic Talent (6 pp)
9: Psionic Talent (7 pp)
10: Psionic Talent (8 pp)
11: Psionic Talent (9 pp)
12: Psionic Talent (10 pp)
13: Psionic Talent (11 pp)
14: Psionic Talent (12 pp)
Total Power Points at 1st (assuming an Int-18 Psion... which, with a 40 point buy, is pretty reasonable - an 18 costs 16 points): 2 racial + 2 Int Bonus + 2 class base + 77 from feats = 83
Total Hit Points at 1st (assuming a Con-18 Psion... which, with a 40 point buy, is very reasonable): 4 (max first) + 4 (con) +28 (Psionic body) = 36.
Maximum Damage Negatable in any given day by Resilience: 332 hp
...
And later on, taking Psionic Talent repeatedly (with some other Psionic feats for good measure - Overchannel, Talented, Psicrystal Affinity, possibly Expanded Knoweledge as well)

It makes a lot of sense, IMHO.

Though I'd be a bit more tempted to do it with a Sorcerer, possibly one with Invisible Dagger instead- gotta love those Force effects!

Invisible Needle, unfortunately, requires 3rd level spells.

The reason for Fiery Burst: At 1st, it's a 2d6 (reflex half) 5-foot burst (so four squares - eight, if you're working in 3d) at a range of 30 feet, at will. While most characters would be dealing with one opponent at a time, Fiery Burst lets you deal with a few (and, as a Wizard or Sorcerer, you can still have the nifties like Sleep, Color Spray, and Grease to work with in your 1st level slots).

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Edena, you really like overpowered games, don't you?

With these rules, I can't imagine any character starting play without:
Improved Initiative
Iron Will
Lightning Reflexes
Great Fortitude
Alertness

And I can't imagine any character of mine starting play without also taking Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot.

This suggests to me that either these feats are overpowered, or all the other ones are underpowered.

Interesting. This begs a question:

Are feats like Alertness, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, and Great Fortitude, examples of something any 'typical' adventurer would have? (because 'typical adventurers' have trained hard, or gone through a lot, or practiced a lot, or studied a lot, etc.) Or are these feats examples of something truly special? Something above and beyond the ordinary, or even the extraordinary of adventurers?
For example, Alertness. Now, you'd expect a fighter to be alert, right? He's expecting a fight, he's trained to react quickly, he's ready for anything (and so on.) But does this qualify as Alertness? Or, is it merely assumed for the fighter without Alertness?

The question would be moot with the RAW, since feats are hard to come by.
In this What If, though, where a character may start with many feats, the question becomes relevant, and it covers a great number of feats.

EDIT: The point is not to overpower the character. The point is to better define the character, make the character more unique, more special in his/her own right.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

You know, consider Lightning Reflexes, and then consider Improved Initiative.
It seems to me that these two feats are related. It is highly likely that if a character has one, he has the other also.

If the character has Improved Initiative, how did he get it?
Having Lightning Reflexes first, makes a lot of sense. Add a lot training to that, learning to quickly react to danger, and the +4 to initiative is realized.

Again, with the RAW, people will take the Improved Initiative only, and forget about the Lightning Reflexes. But there it is, anyways.

What goes for Lightning Reflexes and Improved Initiative, goes for a heck of a lot of other feat combinations (combinations that are not rules required feat chains, that is.)

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Edena, you really like overpowered games, don't you?

With these rules, I can't imagine any character starting play without:
Improved Initiative
Iron Will
Lightning Reflexes
Great Fortitude
Alertness

And I can't imagine any character of mine starting play without also taking Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot.

This suggests to me that either these feats are overpowered, or all the other ones are underpowered.

I would think that the training mindset of the character's mentors, when he or she was learning his or her class, would have realized a group of feats for the character, under these circumstances (where the character starts with many feats.)
Your group of feats above is one such group. How about some others? :

Yours: Alertness, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes

- The brawler (fighter) : Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Endurance, Expertise, Improved Trip, Great Fortitude, Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (with some big, nasty weapon), Weapon Focus (Spiked Gauntlets/Open Hand)
- The archer (fighter) : Dodge, Mobility, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Shot on the Run, Weapon Focus (long bow), Weapon Focus (short bow)
- The acrobat (fighter) : Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Endurance, Expertise, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw, Run, Weapon Finesse (rapier), Weapon Finesse (throwing knives)
- The big, heavy warrior (fighter) : Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Power Attack, Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Sunder, Weapon Focus (primary weapon)
- The cavalier (fighter) : Endurance, Expertise, Improved Disarm, Great Fortitude, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Mounted Combat, Trample, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Lance), Weapon Focus (primary weapon)

- The Ranger: Alertness, Ambidexterity, Blind Fight, Dodge, Mobility, Endurance, Expertise, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Quick Draw, Track, Two Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse (short sword)

- The Rogue: Alertness, Blind Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Expertise, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Far Shot, Shot on the Run, Quick Draw, Run, Weapon Finesse (appropriate nimble weapon)

There seem to be feats that you would expect all classes to take, given this situation.
Then, there are feats that all kinds of fighters, or all kinds of rangers, or all kinds of rogues, or clerics, or wizards, would take.
Then, there are feats that all kinds of fighters specialized in brawling, or horseback riding, or in being archers, would take.
And it becomes progressively more specialized from there.

But what feats are these?
Which are the All Class Feats?
Which are the All Fighter Feats? The All Wizard Feats? The All Monk Feats? The All Rogue Feats? The All Bard Feats? Etc.?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Yeah, but Psionic classes weren't on the OP's list of choices.

<good stuff>

That was noted in that poster's original post- I just edited it out.

I just basically brought it up again to show that certain build types can show up all over the place.

Invisible Needle, unfortunately, requires 3rd level spells.

There is that!

The reason for Fiery Burst <edit>

Essentially, its the same reason for going with the Draconic Breath feat, only because its a reserve feat, its slightly less powerful per use, but you don't use up spell slots to power it...

Of course, this inspires me somewhat...

1) Draconic Heritage (Red Dragon)
2) Draconic Breath
3) Draconic Resistance (CompArc)
4) Draconic Power (+1CL and +1DC to Fire spells)
5) Draconic Flight
6) Weapon Focus: Ranged Touch attacks
7) Ability Focus: Breath Weapon (Monster Manual)
8) Wild Talent
9) Fiery Burst
10) Spellfire (Forgotten Realms, Magic of Faerun)
11) Arcane Strike (CompWar)

You get this PC into the Pyrokinetic PrCl quickly and you have the beginning approximation of the Human Torch.

This suggests to me that either these feats are overpowered, or all the other ones are underpowered.

Actually, I see very few of those feats chosen in campaigns- the obvious exceptions being the ones for ranged combat. Those are always chosen by "archer' types because the rules pretty much dictate you need them to be effective.

IOW, I think its probably more indicative of your personal playstyle.

Not that there aren't over- and underpowered feats.

And at this point in 3.X history, some are not so much underpowered as they're just the (weak) gateway feats to certain chains (that didn't get rectified by WotC until later books).